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Cloud Storage

OneDrive vs SharePoint vs Google Drive vs Box vs Dropbox

Cloud storage is not just about where files sit. It is about ownership, collaboration, governance, and what happens when staff change. This guide covers which platform fits which job.

Last reviewed September 2026

Why Cloud Storage Choice Matters

The difference between a tidy business and a chaotic one is usually where files live. Personal drives full of team content. Shared drives full of personal drafts. Box next to Dropbox next to OneDrive, with the same document in three places and three versions.

The Simple Rule: Personal vs Business-Owned

If a file is yours and you are building it, it belongs in your personal workspace. If it belongs to the business, a team, a client, or a project, it lives in a shared business-owned location. Microsoft splits this between OneDrive and SharePoint. Google splits it between My Drive and Shared Drives.

OneDrive = Personal Microsoft storage
SharePoint = Shared Microsoft business storage
Google My Drive = Personal Google storage
Google Shared Drives = Shared Google business storage
Box = Structured content management
Dropbox = File sync and share

OneDrive vs SharePoint

Microsoft 365 is usually the strongest choice when your business already runs Outlook, Teams, and Office. OneDrive is your private workspace. SharePoint is where team-owned content lives. Files shared in Teams channels live in SharePoint under the hood.

OneDrive

  • Personal drafts and working files
  • Private unless shared
  • Tied to the individual account
  • Disappears or needs transfer when the user leaves

SharePoint

  • Department, team, client, project content
  • Business owns the files, not the person
  • Permissions, retention, governance built in
  • Powers Teams channel files

Google Drive vs Shared Drives

Google Workspace is strong for browser-based work, collaboration, and light admin overhead. The same rule applies: My Drive for personal, Shared Drives for team content. Files in Shared Drives are owned by the organisation and remain accessible when people leave.

Most Google Workspace problems come from letting team content sit in personal My Drive. When the person leaves, the files vanish into offboarding limbo.

Box: When Governance Matters More Than Convenience

Box is not the flashiest platform, but it is one of the strongest for regulated industries. Content governance, retention policies, legal hold, approval workflows, and granular permissions are genuinely first-class. If your business lives with formal document workflows, Box deserves serious consideration.

Dropbox: Still Good at What It Does

Dropbox is still the cleanest file sync and share experience. If the requirement is genuinely just syncing and sharing files with external collaborators, it holds up well. Less complete than M365 or Google for full document collaboration and governance.

Our Recommendations

Already running Microsoft 365

OneDrive for personal, SharePoint for team. Use Teams as the daily front end. Native integration wins.

All-in on Google Workspace

Google Drive with properly managed Shared Drives. Move team content out of My Drive.

Regulated / governance-heavy

Box deserves evaluation alongside M365 or Google.

Just want simple sharing

Dropbox works. But you probably already own OneDrive or Drive.

Common Mistakes

Team files in personal OneDrive / My Drive

When staff leave, files disappear. Move to SharePoint / Shared Drives early.

Flat SharePoint with no information architecture

Everything in one site. No one can find anything. Design hub sites and libraries.

Oversharing "anyone with the link"

Public URLs leak through bookmarks, screenshots, search. Restrict to signed-in only.

Sync conflicts from parallel platforms

OneDrive + Dropbox + Drive synced to the same folder. File corruption. Pick one canonical location.

No governance

Retention, sensitivity labels, DLP, external sharing rules. Without them, it is chaos by default.

Related: Microsoft 365 Governance, Shared Mailbox Guide.

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